Flowerbed maintenance

Camui

So my HOA just sent me a letter about how I need to keep my flowerbeds looking good, but I have no idea how to keep it looking nice and such. I bought some topsoil and new mulch but other than that, do I remove and dispose of the old mulch? Or can I just put it on top? Also my brother thinks the top soil goes under the mulch and my friend says it goes over the mulch and I'm hella confused.

So if anyone knows anything about this, it would be helpful. I already did try to look up any how-to guides on google but there isn't anything indepth that I can find for what I need to know.

Thanks in advance.

Djeet

When refurbishing flowerbeds I pull up all the grass at the borders if it's invading the bed. Then I pick up all the old dried out mulch and dead leaves and litter amongst the plant stems. Then I'll water the bed so it's easier to pull up weeds. If I left holes from rooting up the weeds I'll fill with soil and new plants. Then put down a layer of mulch, enough so the bedding appears a uniform color.

Dispose of the old mulch like grass clippings: compost or trash.

If they are only concerned with the "look" you could probably get away with just adding layer of new mulch in the bed so it looks freshly mulched, though if the mulch is too deep it doesn't help the plant and doesn't look good.

Leather gloves help, especially if it's wet or if there are bugs.

I'd recommend starting this near dawn; it can be time consuming and you don't want to be doing this after noon.

matt has a problem

Rake it out first, getting rid of any leaves or old mulch. Spread the topsoil, plant any new plants you have, then spread the mulch around the plants.

If you want to do it cheap, just weed it and spread mulch over everything when it starts looking ragged.

MetroidZoid

Pretty much what they said, but there's also steps you can take so this is much more maintenance-free in the future:

Okay, you mentioned 'old mulch'. I'm gonna assume we're talking small wood chips? If they've been there for over a couple years, or at least a year, they've probably started to decompose, which is usually a good thing (if not just neutral), and you can easily cover them with a new layer of bark mulch (if it's a wood product, make sure it's chipped BARK. Fresh cut, chipped wood will only sap away nutrients from the soil. A thin layer of say pine shavings (that would be a bad mulch choice) could practically sponge up the amount of fertilizer you could spread on an average lawn).

But first!

What kind of flowers and plants are we talking about here? A couple evergreen shrubs, some annuals thrown in there? In most cases, the common 'flower-bed choice' annuals are time-and-energy hogs that will be dead in say 6 months or less, and leave you with NOTHING. Instead, take the time to invest in either (A) annuals that are more drought-tolerant, can withstand sun conditions / summer seasons better, don't need heavy amounts of nutrients, etc. Or my personal favorite (B) throw in some long lasting tough-as-nails perennial choices in there. Bonus points for using native plants.

Also, in case it comes up, if there's a plastic that's been laid under the bark mulch as weed-prevention, rip that shit out. Solid plastic blocks water and air from passing to and from the soil, and turns it into a microbacterial desert. Now, if it's weed-barrier fabric, and is still mostly-intact (doesn't shred at the slightest touch), leave that in, but consider replacing it down the road.

And then lay down a thin layer of that glorious new bark mulch, and enjoy your new flower bed.

Other things:
Putting down a wide and low barrier between the bed and lawn versus a high and thin barrier (like lawn edging plastic) is easier to mow over, rather than mowing up against it, but having to come back with a weed whacker or something to get what the mower can't against the very edge.

Also, now's a great time to put down some fertilizer on the flowerbed plants, especially an organic fertilizer, because on the whole they contain slow-release nutrients, which mean a longer time until you have to buy more, as well as not containing synthetic fertilizers which can dump salt into your soil. Bonus points if you get an organic fertilizer like Dr. Earth that's basically pro-biotic for soil.

Also also: I've decided I want pictures now. So that I may pass better judgem- ... so that I can visualize this thing better.

Kidding. I actually just like to see what you have to work with, and I'm a plant geek

Camui

It's not a good shot, (it's nighttime so this is an older shot) but we have the 4 different beds to with with and apparently the front two have perennials which are not in bloom atm. I think we bought some annuals to plant for now.

Either way right now the grass is overgrown (Thanks to a week of nonstop rain) and there is alot of grass trying to grow in the rims of the beds.

So with any luck, the sun will be out tomorrow and I can get some work done!

Thanks for the advice.

MetroidZoid

First of all, :^: for mulching around your trees. It will help them so much in the long run. Also, I can't tell what tree they are in particular, but they look plenty old enough to be no longer staked unless they're in a 20+ mph windtunnel. Since the worst of the weather has probably passed in your area, I'd go ahead and rip out those stakes and wires. A tree that can bend and flex in the wind will grow stronger in the long run, really. And when that tree is 20+ feet tall, and that close to your house, you want that trunk to be as strong as it can be, right?

So irrigation must be sprinklers given the lawn. Yeah, again (and if it were me), I'd put down a ring of flat pavers or really low rocks, or something otherwise wide and low that the mower could go right on over, but would put a barrier between the mulch and the encroaching lawn. It'd make trimming the lawn so much quicker.

Also, make sure that during the summer (possibly early fall?) months, you're taking the time to lay a ring of soaker hose around the bed, particularly a couple feet around the tree, and soak it for a good few hours, and do that once every other week. That'll give it really nice deep good roots to keep it strong and drought-resistant when it's well aged.

Camui

We got alot of the work done just got to clean up around the edges, loose pulled weeds and all. We decided to keep the wires on for alittle while longer cause being Texas and all we seem to have twisters passing by all the time. A few neighbors down the line actually had their trees blown over already in the last few months.

Thanks for the advice, hopefully the hoa won't feel the need to threaten us with more nicely written letters of hate.